Chelsea is making new out of old. The London club announced on Thursday that its former player and coach, Frank Lampard, will be in charge of the team until the end of the season, the time for its management to find a permanent solution after the Graham Potter fiasco. The club’s emblematic player from 2001 to 2014, which earned him a place in the Premier League “Hall of Fame”, then his coach from July 2019 to January 2021, Lampard will already be the Blues’ third coach this season.
The new American owners, who had bought the club from Roman Abramovich at the end of last season, had sacked Thomas Tuchel last August, after only seven games, to be replaced by Graham Potter, as promising as he is inexperienced at this level. Unable to make his mark on a group turned upside down by the 600 million euros spent on the transfer market in summer and winter, very often for young players with high potential, he was sacked on Sunday, leaving the club to 11th place in the league, even if he is still in the race for the C1 quarter-finals against Real Madrid.
The club gives itself time
Eager not to make the same mistakes, Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali, the co-owners of the club, have therefore chosen to give themselves time with this historical figure of the club who should at least appease the supporters, never convinced either by Potter or by the recent management of the club. “We are delighted to welcome Frank back to Stamford Bridge”, explained the two men, quoted in the press release, who spoke of “a legend in this club”.
“As we continue the meticulous and exhaustive process to find a permanent head coach, we give the club and the fans a clear and stable project for the remainder of the season,” they stressed. “We want to give ourselves every chance of succeeding and Frank has all the characteristics and qualities required to lead us to the finish line,” they further pleaded.
A coach who has yet to prove
At 44, Lampard still has a lot to prove as a coach. After his mixed experience at Chelsea, which he led to Champions League qualification despite a recruitment ban and the FA Cup final, his second season was much more difficult, and he was sacked in January 2021.
He then bounced back to Everton where he was appointed at the end of January 2022, saving fellow club Liverpool from relegation. But until his dismissal last January, his 44 games at the head of the Toffees, punctuated by 24 defeats and 8 draws for only 12 victories, had not left a great memory either on the banks of the Mersey.